This invention is a paint roller applicator for retaining a paint roller brush on a paint roller cage.
A typical paint roller, as contemplated for use in combination with the instant invention, comprises a handle, a rigid shaft extending from the handle, a cage rotatably attached to the rigid shaft, the cage further having a handle end and a free end, a cylindrical shaped handle end cap affixed to the end of the cage where the shaft enters the cage from the handle, and a cylindrical shaped free end cap affixed to the other end of the cage where the shaft terminates. A cylindrical paintbrush (also known as a xe2x80x9ccoverxe2x80x9d or xe2x80x9cbrushxe2x80x9d) is affixed to and surrounds the cage and part of each end cap in such a manner that the brush, end caps, and cage rotate together. In the normal course of operation, a user grasps the handle and dips the brush in a paint container so that its outer surface absorbs paint. The user then grasps the handle to manually apply the outer surface of the brush to the surface to be painted by rolling it against the surface.
The brush in a typical paint roller is affixed to the cage and end caps by means of a press fit or interference fit. To be practical, this fit between the cage and cylindrical brush must be loose enough to enable the brush to be slipped over the cage and end caps by hand. In achieving that looseness, however, the brush is at risk of sliding off the cage during use. The present invention overcomes this problem by adding a positive stop feature as described herein to the free end cap to prevent the cover from sliding during use.
No known prior art paint rollers incorporate any such positive stop feature.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,115,659 to Church; 3,274,637 to Schulze; 5,014,384 to Brezette et al., and United Kingdom patent, no. 887,294 to Ashley all disclose a paint roller wherein the brush resides in a single-piece housing. In each of those patents, the housing, among other things, acts as a barrier to keep the cover from sliding off the roller. Although the housings shown in those prior art patents prevent their respective roller paint brushes from sliding completely off of the cage, they do not disclose any means or structure, as is the case in the present invention, to prevent the brush from sliding into and thereby rubbing against the housing during use. Additionally, because all of these housings are attached at both ends of the cage, these inventions do not permit ready removal and replacement of roller covers.
The paint rollers disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,378,872 to Frontera et al.; 3,085,270 to Vosbikian et al.; 4,528,712 to Leibow; and 4,985,958 to Garcia do not disclose any means for ready removal and replacement of the brush. Nor do any of those patents disclose any positive stop feature for retaining the brush.
The paint rollers disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,594,971 to Nelson and 5,806,129 to Nelson require the user to perform at least two operations simultaneously in order to remove or install a brush.
In light of the foregoing shortcomings in the prior art, a paint roller is needed that will allow the user to easily remove and replace the roller brush without leaving the brush at risk of sliding with respect to the cage when painting.
The present invention provides a paint roller retainer which prevents the paint roller""s cylindrical brush from sliding over the end cap when painting. This is achieved by providing a free end cap having a removable roller retainer having a diameter greater than the diameter of the free end cap. The greater diameter of the removable roller retainer in comparison with the diameter of the end cap provides a positive stop feature to the free end cap.
A cylindrical paint brush is installed or removed by removing the roller retainer so that it is not in a position to prevent installation or removal of the cylindrical paint brush. To keep the cylindrical paint brush from sliding with respect to the cage during painting operations, the roller retainer is re-attached to the free end cap.
A preferred version of the paint roller applicator of the present invention includes a handle, a rigid shift, and further includes:
(a) a roller cage mounted on the rigid shaft and having a handle end and a free end;
(b) an end cap affixed to the handle end of the roller cage (hereinafter the xe2x80x9chandle end capxe2x80x9d), the handle end cap further having a cylindrical surface and a circular flat surface,
(c) an end cap affixed to the free end of the roller cage (hereinafter the xe2x80x9cfree end capxe2x80x9d), the free end cap further having a cylindrical outer surface and a threaded inner surface;
(d) a roller retainer comprising a threaded portion for receipt by the threaded inner surface of the free end cap and a retainer disk having a diameter larger than the diameter of the cylindrical outer surface of the free end cap and further having means for accommodating a rotational force; and
(e) a roller brush.